Chapter 245: The Illegitimate Egg (5K)

"Wait!"

Herbert cradled the giant egg in both hands, holding it high like "Simba," trying to bring it to Fu Leimei's side.

"This isn't a dragon's egg at all!"

Look at it!

Look back at me!

Open your eyes and look!

I don't believe your eyes are empty—

"Fu Leimei! It's not at all what you think! Let me explain!"

Fu Leimei, face filled with resistance, drifted aimlessly through the air, dodging Herbert while covering her ears and muttering: "I won't listen, I won't listen, I won't listen…"

I don't care—it's your child with Valentina!

Don't come near me! Just go live with that dragon!

Hmph!

Won't look, won't listen, won't stop.

She floated helplessly through the air like a salted fish with no anchor, a ghost brimming with resentment.

Of course, Fu Leimei wasn't Bai Chi, not someone incapable of discerning the truth.

In fact, shortly after her shocked, instinctive question, she had already realized the issue.

First, it wasn't a dragon's egg.

Second, she felt no trace of Valentina's or Herbert's aura on this giant egg.

Oh no!

This is awkward.

She'd already blown up, but the other party didn't seem wrong—she was just making trouble out of nothing.

It was like two people arguing, then suddenly realizing their own fault halfway through.

At this point, there's no going back!

Admitting fault now would be slapping her own face hard.

Slap! Slap!

That's why "you realize you're wrong but keep pretending you're not" happens.

So after struggling, Fu Leimei chose—pretend nothing happened.

I didn't think anything!

That's a dragon's egg.

You can't wake someone who's pretending to sleep—especially when there are witnesses.

If there were no other observers, just the two of them, Fu Leimei would never be this stubborn—her voice would turn soft, incredibly soft.

Lower her head, admit fault, pout a little, use her soft voice—this whole thing would be over.

But now there are too many spectators—all those newly arrived priestesses are staring right here.

She has pride too, you know!

In the midst of this chase, Herbert had also noticed Fu Leimei's hidden thoughts.

Because if Fu Leimei were truly angry and determined to flee, he could never catch up.

The fact that he could catch her now proved she was deeply guilty.

She's hiding something!

You annoying mermaid!

Even though Fu Leimei was stubborn, Herbert didn't care about her behavior.

In fact, he found it amusing.

He had no lordly pride to uphold, didn't think it embarrassing at all—he happily played along with her antics.

Let others watch if they want.

Watch all you want—the more you watch, the more essential you become to this play!

Herbert wanted to see just how long Fu Leimei could keep up her stubborn act.

Go ahead and make a scene.

The more you act up now, the more humbly you'll have to apologize to me tonight.

Don't ask why you'll have to show your belly when you apologize—you know why.

You picked the idol yourself.

"Madam, please hear me out."

"I won't listen, I won't listen, I won't listen—"

After chasing each other for a long time, neither of them was tired, and the onlookers were thoroughly entertained.

But the most crucial part of their play—the "private egg"—was getting impatient.

Duang!

It suddenly jerked free from Herbert's hands and landed on the ground.

Its tail bounced off the ground, and the entire egg darted swiftly toward the spring at the center of the territory.

Bounce~ Bounce~ Bounce~

Under everyone's gaze, the giant egg leapt high into the air, spun three and a half somersaults, and landed precisely in the spring.

Splash!

It sank a short distance, then quickly rose to the surface, finally floating lazily on the water.

The serpent tail behind it swayed gently, letting it control its direction as it floated.

It had escaped the demon's clutches and was comfortably soaking in the hot spring, but the others had no more show to put on.

Especially Herbert—he had already chased right up to Fu Leimei's side and was about to shove the egg into her arms.

He was almost successful, but at this moment the thing in his hand grew its own tail and ran off.

He could only face the Young Lady of the merfolk eye to eye, big eyes staring at small eyes, just looking at each other blankly.

Fu Leimei: What do we do now?

Herbert: I don't know either.

"..."

"..."

Herbert kept his original posture of both hands reaching forward in an empty grip, looking as though he was about to assault Fu Leimei...

And then, Herbert actually did it.

What's the point of just "looking like" something?

He could really do it!

So, a flick, a pluck, a tap of the fingers.

A gentle gather, slow twist, brush and pluck again.

"Eek!?"

The Young Lady of the merfolk, suddenly attacked, trembled all over, her fish tail went rigid, and she hugged her arms慌乱ly across her chest.

"Y-you-you!!?"

Her entire upper body, from her neck to her cheeks, flushed crimson at astonishing speed, and she stared at Herbert in disbelief as he naturally withdrew his fingers.

She nervously glanced around, found that everyone else's eyes were on that giant egg, and no one had noticed Herbert's sneaky little finger trick.

"Phew..."

Only then did she breathe a sigh of relief and start to complain about Herbert's behavior,

You fellow, you're way too impatient, there are still so many people around!

But before she could open her mouth, she met his playful gaze, and every word got stuck in her throat.

"Uh!"

Could it be that he actually saw through everything?

Herbert met her evasive, unconfident gaze with a smile, raised his hand, and gestured a pressing-up-and-down motion.

Seeing this tacit gesture between the two of them, Fu Leimei shifted her gaze away unnaturally to one side, then silently nodded.

"... Mm."

Alright, he really had seen through it.

With this interruption, the two of them couldn't keep up the act any longer, and returned to their usual manner.

Herbert stopped chasing after her to "explain," and Fu Leimei habitually hooked her arm around his neck, naturally leaning onto Herbert's back.

And this stark contrast with before left the onlooking melon-eating crowd utterly dumbfounded.

Huh, that's it?

Aren't you two going to keep bickering a bit more?

If you two don't bicker, then who's going to make up the missing piece of melon for us!?

Or maybe... you two were actually deliberately showing off your affection just now?

Fighting on the surface, flirting underneath, right!!?

"Ahem!"

Joanna gave a light cough, clapped her hands to break the girls' train of thought, and said "seriously": "Alright, stop spacing out, let's get back to work."

Don't look at impropriety, stop watching.

Watching too much won't do you any good.

"Oh, alright..."

Though the priestess girls were reluctant, they understood that watching any longer would truly be a bit impolite.

One by one, they reluctantly withdrew their gazes and continued casting divine arts to build their dwelling—a small ice-and-snow temple.

Yes, Joanna and the others had thought it over; since they had to build a dwelling anyway, they might as well directly build a beginner-level temple made entirely of divine-art ice blocks.

Of course, building the Nushenshendian only began after Herbert gave his permission, with a site chosen in the northern region of the Eluda Territory.

But because this place lay within the Mist Mountains, a forbidden zone for gods, their connection to the divine was extremely weak, and the effects of their divine arts were greatly diminished.

The gods' blessing bonuses were largely失效, and they cast divine arts entirely on their own ability.

After a full day and night, they had only completed one-tenth of the entire structure.

"..."

Joanna was the last to withdraw her gaze; she paid a little extra attention to the atmosphere between Herbert and Fu Leimei.

It wasn't the awkwardness after a quarrel she had imagined, but rather... a bit ambiguous?

What on earth did you two do?

How is it that after a quarrel, instead of giving each other the cold shoulder, you got ambiguous instead?

This... is that right?

At this moment, she suddenly recalled the quarrels between her mother and her long-deceased father when she was little...

It seemed like every time they finished arguing, she had to go back to her room and sleep alone.

Back then she hadn't thought much of it, assuming her parents were giving each other the cold shoulder and didn't want her caught in the middle.

But looking back now, it doesn't seem quite like that... Hiss!

Joanna shook her head violently, trying to banish the imagined scene from her mind.

No!

Don't think about it anymore!

But the reactions of Herbert and Fu Leimei just now had surprised her.

From the current situation, this mysterious lord seems quite easy to get along with.

Hmm, let's observe a bit longer.

Compared to Joanna, the amateur dreamer, Uniel was clearly far more interested in the new giant egg than in Herbert and Fu Leimei's romantic comedy.

"What is that thing?"

She stared at the giant egg floating lazily in the water, her bewilderment no less than Nie Nasha's when she first discovered it.

Is this thing right?

But after struggling for a while, Uniel came to terms with it herself.

"Tsk, this avatar's power is too weak—I can't even sense its soul."

She didn't think the object was strange; instead, she blamed herself for failing to perceive its true nature.

Hmm, it must be my problem.

And the fact that Herbert could produce something so baffling even to Him raised his mystery level by another notch in His eyes.

"Hmm, where exactly did he find these things? No—who is his true self?"

Unlike Joanna's skepticism, He had almost convinced himself that Herbert was a divine avatar.

Yet his level of caution exceeded expectations—he had observed for so long but found not a single clue.

"Hmm, perhaps I can find some clues from it."

Since no clues could be found in his true form, perhaps I should shift my approach.

This egg before me might be a good starting point.

Uniel stared fixedly at the egg, trying to discern something from its patterns.

Stare—

As if sensing Uniel's overly intense gaze of exploration, the egg trembled, flicked its tail, and turned around.

The girl stood on the shore; the giant egg floated in the water—they locked eyes, neither moving further.

On the other side, Herbert also stared at the giant egg floating in the water, and suddenly a food came to mind.

"A hot spring egg?"

"No, it's already hatched—this must be a hot spring hairy egg… cough."

As Herbert mused, Fu Leimei had already regained her composure and asked curiously: "By the way, what is it?"

Even if it isn't Herbert's illegitimate egg, it's still an extremely peculiar existence.

What kind of creature remains inside its shell after hatching? And moves in such a way?

She didn't know much about terrestrial creatures, so she couldn't tell if this was normal on land.

"Who knows? I certainly don't."

"Even you don't know?"

"Hmm, I don't know its origin, but since it means us no harm and has lived nearby all along, why not make it a subject of the domain?"

For this question, Herbert was somewhat helpless and shrugged:

"Just treat it temporarily as a harmless pet—it shouldn't cause major problems."

After all, it has been cooperative so far, and no malice has been sensed—so treat it as a "neutral" to "friendly" entity for now.

"Then… how should I address it?"

After realizing it wasn't a "illegitimate egg," Fu Leimei's fondness for the giant egg rose noticeably.

"I don't know either."

Herbert clearly looked displeased—he pouted and grumbled: "I already gave it a nice name, but it didn't like it!"

Sigh, what terrible taste!

What's wrong with "Zhang Pu Ai Ge"?

Isn't it nice-sounding?

It doesn't just sound good—it contains clever thought!

"Heh."

Though Fu Leimei didn't ask what name Herbert had given it, she suspected it wasn't a proper one.

"But still, it needs some kind of name, right?"

Herbert spread his hands helplessly: "For now, we probably shouldn't—apparently, it refuses to communicate with anyone but me."

"On the way back, Sophie tried speaking to it several times—it completely ignored her."

It didn't just ignore Sophie's questions—it completely disregarded them.

Herbert could even sense "contempt" and "arrogance" from a giant egg.

"I suppose you'd be no different—just leave it be for now…"

Herbert spoke helplessly, when Fu Leimei suddenly interrupted him with an odd tone: "Wait a moment, Herbert—are you sure it ignores everyone else?"

"Of course I am—why… hmm?"

As Herbert spoke, he blinked uncertainly.

In his astonished gaze, the priestess girl he had been paying special attention to was now cautiously stepping toward the water's edge.

And the giant egg didn't resist as before—it actively drifted to the shore, drawing closer.

The girl named Uniel crouched by the spring, tentatively extended her hand, and gently stroked the eggshell.

And the giant egg did not resist her actions either; instead, it quietly settled down and allowed her to be intimate.

The person and the egg were silent, as if quietly feeling each other's presence.

Huh?

Aren't you a cold and aloof egg?

What is going on this time?

What's the matter? Could it be that you're discriminating against our Sophia!?!?

So angry I could freeze!

Herbert turned his head and, sure enough, found Sophia lowering her head at this moment with a somewhat forlorn expression.

Being ignored, huh.

"So, what exactly is going on here? Why does it look at her differently?"

Herbert stared at Euniel, a few thoughts flashing through his mind.

"My dear Lady of Ice and Snow, just how lavish a gesture did you make, exactly what kind of person did you send to me?"

Just to monitor me?

That really can't be it!

If you're really still uneasy, why not descend in person one more time?

Anyway, you already came last time, one more time wouldn't make much difference.

This Euniel — what identity does she actually have?

Could she be a God-Chosen One?

Aren't you really worried something will go wrong with her?

Even with Herbert's boldness, he did not dare to imagine Euniel's identity as being any higher.

After all, who could have expected… that when one asks for a little bit of help, the other party would actually send their own "mother" into someone else's hands?

No way, that really can't be it!

Everyone else says "grab your mother and run!" — how come yours is "send your mother over!"?

……

"Euniel, come here for a moment."

Once Euniel finally left the shore, Herbert beckoned her over to his side.

"Oh?"

The girl hopped and skipped her way to Herbert's side, smiling at him with all the vigor of youth.

"Big Brother, is something the matter?"

So, so dazzling!

Herbert was nearly blinded by this somewhat overly dazzling aura of youth, and squinting, he shook his head with a smile: "It's nothing, I just wanted to ask you about something."

"Oh!"

"Were you communicating with it just now?"

"Mm!"

Euniel nodded vigorously, smiling: "Beilin is very friendly, it really likes it here."

"Wait, Beilin? That's its name?"

Euniel proudly puffed out her practically nonexistent chest, saying smugly: "I gave it that name! It really likes it!"

Herbert blinked, not expecting that the two of them were actually closer than he had thought.

Didn't you two just meet? How has it already let someone give it a name?

Is the name I came up with really not good enough!?

All my sincerity — given to the wrong person!

"Big Brother? Is there a problem?"

"N-no, nothing."

Herbert came back to himself, shook his head, regained his composure, and smiled:

"It's fine. Since Beilin is willing to communicate with you, then you'll be in charge of looking after it. If it has any needs, just tell Sophia directly."

He had originally been a little worried about how the giant egg would get along with others, and had wanted to arrange for someone to be specifically in charge.

But now, wonderfully, someone had actually volunteered to take on this task.

"Okay~"

Euniel nodded easily in agreement, then suddenly asked with some curiosity: "Big Brother, are you about to leave?"

"Yes."

Herbert smiled and said softly: "I'm going to be away for a while. The Elterda Territory will be left in your hands to protect for the time being."

When he finished speaking, he suddenly noticed Euniel giving him a somewhat regretful glance.

Just as he was feeling a little puzzled, the girl broke into a brilliant smile and brought up another matter.

"Oh right! Big Brother! Sister Joanna told me to tell you that the old grandpa has already been healed."

Oh!

I was saying I almost forgot something before leaving — turns out there's still Shi Diwen!

(End of this chapter)